The Light and the Dark
by ClarityAnnDale
Summary: Draco's scared of the light. It's ridiculous... But when the light finds him, he feels that it may not actually be as terrifying as he thought.


The Light and the Dark

**Hello! And hello again for those who have read my other stories. This is, not my shortest, but a oneshot based on the light and the dark, as suggested in the title. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Co. and that includes Draco Malfoy, of course. They belong to J.K Rowling.**

Draco was a Malfoy.

And Malfoys were generally people who were everything from prickly to pompous. They had trademark platinum hair, cold grey eyes and held themselves high. They honoured their family crest and their motto Sanctimonia Vincet Semper. All in all, a very traditional Pureblood family.

But most importantly, they were people who showed no weakness. Each bore a perfectly inscrutable look, in which they prided themselves on.

But Draco Malfoy had always been scared of the light. It sounded absurd, for it was everywhere; extending its golden beams wherever it could reach. He had tried to tell his Father, but he had only scoffed contemptuously and shoved Draco impatiently away.

_Draco stood at the doorway to his father__'__s office, clutching his blanket._

'_Father__… __I-__'_

'_Don__'__t drag your blankets around; it looks terrible. Now, what is it?__' __his father had asked sharply._

'_Father, father, I-I I__'__m afraid of the light.__'_

_His father looked at him critically.__ '__You__'__re afraid of what?__'_

'_The light__…__'_

'_How can you be afraid of the light? Impossible. Go, and go quickly. No son of mine is afraid of the light.__'_

_Draco drew back, stung by his father__'__s dismissal. No son of his?_

_He straightened and wrapped his blanket around himself like a cape in attempt to look less straggly. If his father__'__s raised eyebrow was anything to go by, it made him look even more childish. Blinking away the tears that may have dropped, he gave a curt nod and slipped out of the office. He was not to disappoint Father; no more childish fears for him. Laughing self-deprecatingly, he mocked himself through a veil of fresh tears. Who was afraid of__the light anyways?_

It started with Hide and Seek.

Every time, Pansy would count slowly and exaggeratedly and cover her wandering eyes. One… Two… Three…

And the rest would bolt away, screaming in laughter as they searched the Manor for places to hide. Draco would quietly tiptoe down snaking hallways and find a dark place to hide in.

There it was.

Another coveted hiding spot for him. The others said he was ingenious at this game; but he knew he wasn't. He only shied away from that fear and wanted to find somewhere where he could be away from… that light.

He would duck and tuck himself away into the closet, cupboard, whatever it was, and wait. Usually, he had meandered somehow into one of the closets in his floor. It was dark and small, and he could smell the fresh towels and floral fragrances pressed up against his nose. The darkness was nice, like a blanket that surrounded him, but all the same slightly frightening. Who knew what lurked in the Darkness with him, or what. Did ill will lay low with the settling dust and cool marble of the floor?

But it was still better than the light.

After countless minutes ticked by, the sounds of impatient footsteps would lead up to the place he was hiding in. Draco braced himself, curling soft linens around him tighter.

It was always too bright.

The blinding glow as the rest of his friends pulled the doors open. That light. At first, he convinced himself that it was the sudden contact with light that caused him to tumble out, arms always hugging his knees in a defensive position. But he was only trying to convince himself. His friends would pat him on the back and laugh, saying he was always on his guard. And Draco wasn't bothered to correct them; they didn't need to know.

As the years carried on, Draco grew, now more confident and more similar to a proper Malfoy each day. His father no longer looked at him with a scrutinising eye, but with a more prideful one. And that was what pleased Draco. He needed to know he was getting stronger and less afraid of the trivial fears he felt in his childhood.

Sixth year came, and it wasn't the light he was afraid of anymore. For it was then he truly met darkness for the first time.

'_Draco,__' __the Dark Lord hissed quietly, pale hands__stretched towards him,__ '__Come, for it is time for your Marking.__'_

_Head bowed, he rose and stepped forward, arm held out hesitantly. The Dark Lord took it in his__cold, long talons, for they surely were not fingers, and pressed the hard wood of his wand to his wrist. And pain followed. Pain that spread throughout, leaving nowhere that didn__'__t seem to be tortured. He could feel the almost palpable force of dark magic around him. Darkness that spread like ink on paper across him. And he was part of it now._

_And there was no backing out._

So that was that. He become one of the Dark, who lived and were supposed to thrive in the Darkness. He was afraid of the dark, but the memories of the sheer terror he had of light from years before restrained him from running away. For what was there when he ran from dark? Light.

But then the next time, it wasn't the light he was afraid of.

A year with the Dark, and Draco was given the fateful task. It began to break him slowly but surely; shattering him bit by bit from the inside. But Draco blamed his own cowardice, being unable to fully accept the Dark and kill _him._

And at the final battle, when the weak rays of morning light looked upon the dull grey castle's battered fortress, there it was again. His deepest fear, the one that had always overshadowed him but had never been acknowledged.

The fear of dark.

'_Draco, come.__'_

_The same words uttered to him before, at the Marking.__But now it was more significant than ever. He realised he had taken his stand by the light, inadvertently, but that would cost him his life if the Dark won the war. Draco looked to the limp form in the giant__'__s arms, to the weary faces of fellow students and light members, and then to the overpowering ranks of black-cloaked figures that stood in__front of him._

_There was no way the war could be won by the Light. With as much confidence as he could muster, he stepped forward, slightly trembling, and walked towards the Dark Lord. His pale face was unreadable but he had his arms outstretched. Draco walked almost robotically to him,__steps measured and slow as he willed himself, and embraced the Dark Lord._

_He had never been so close to Darkness, to Death._

'_You have made the correct choice Draco,__' __the Dark Lord whispered,__ '__And for that, you will be rewarded.__'_

_Draco gulped and stepped back, quickly making his way to his grim-faced parents. Mother stood by Father, hair tumbling out of her usually prim bun, and put her hand on his arm.__ '__Draco, it__'__ll be alright.__'_

_He nodded shakily and took his spot by her, watching the scenes unfold._

'_Mother.__'_

_His mother startled.__ '__Y-yes Draco? Now__'__s not the best time-__'_

'_I__'__m afraid of the dark.__'_

'_D-draco, I-I- It__'__s al-right, as long as you__'__re alright. You__'__re alright,__' __his mother chanted, as if reassuring herself._

'_Yes, mother.__'_

_And then the battle continued with the cry of the light, as Potter jumped up, not so dead after all, and Longbottom slaughtered the great serpent Nagini._

_The Malfoys fled, unnoticed. The war raged on until the final end came and__finally__light rose triumphant._

_And Draco sat in silence on a wooden chair by the door of their quaint cottage in France, staring out to the land afar._

_He felt the end, the wave of magic that passed through him and he felt lighter. As if he was again carefree as he had once been. There was a pulsing knot of light at his wrist and Draco watched it, mesmerised._

_It flew over from his right wrist to his left, over where the Dark Mark was. He swallowed thickly._

_The light pierced his skin and it was gone._

_The Mark was gone._

_He was really free._

_Again._

_From light and dark._

_Forever._

Maybe the light was not so terrifying after all.

**Aha! Done! Ah heh. Did I ruin the rather mild ending with my exclamations? I hope not; I was kinda hoping you****'****d review to tell me what****'****s good and bad. If it was confusing because he was scared of both light AND dark, well tell me so! Please rate and review! Constructive criticism is appreciated. **

**~ Clarity Ann Dale**


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